Qatar Tries to Mend Fences With Its Arab Neighbors

Qatars government is distancing itself publicly from Islamist groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas as the tiny Persian Gulf state seeks to mend relations with its Arab neighbors.

We do not support Hamas. We do not support the Muslim Brotherhood. We support the people of Palestine and Egypt, Qatari Foreign Minister Khalid bin Mohammad al-Attiyah told a forum hosted by Atlantic Media this week in Washington.

Qatar has served as a base for the political leadership of Hamas, the militant Palestinian group, since the Arab Spring political uprising engulfed Syria in 2011.Many senior leaders of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood have also made Doha their base in recent years. In addition, the Taliban has a diplomatic office in the Qatari capital.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt have publicly fumed that Qatars hosting of these Islamist groups further threatens regional stability and could stir up political opposition inside their own countries. Riyadh, Abu Dhabi, and Manama all pulled their ambassadors from Doha last March in protest.

In recent weeks, however, Qatar and these countries have moved to end their feud, according to senior Arab officials.

In November, the late Saudi King Abdullah held a summit of Persian Gulf monarchs in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, where Doha committed to distancing itself from these groups, according to participants in the talks. In return, the Gulf states envoys have returned to Doha.

Qatari officials have said in private that a number of senior members of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood have left Doha for Turkey in recent months. They also said that Qatars al Jazeera television network has closed a channel that was solely focused on covering Egyptian politics following the 2013 overthrow of former President Mohammed Morsi, a senior Muslim Brotherhood politician.

The differences between us are over, Mr. Attiyah said about Qatars relationship with its Persian Gulf neighbors. There are no differences.

Qatar continues to be the political headquarters for Hamas and its leader, Khaled Meshaal. Mr. Attiyah said his country views Hamas differently than do the U.S. and Europe, which have designated it a terrorist organization.

They are a movement of liberation, Qatars top diplomat said of Hamas. The Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip are in an open jail, he said.

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Qatar Tries to Mend Fences With Its Arab Neighbors